Personal selling and sales management abstracts.

Abstracts Editorial Staff

Joseph Chapman

Ball State University

Irvine Clarke III

James Madison University

Dawn R. Deeter-Schmelz

Ohio University

Susan K. DelVecchio

East Carolina University

Tanya Drollinger

Sean Dwyer

Louisiana Tech University

Karen E. Flaherty

Oklahoma State University

David I. Gilliland

Colorado State University

Karen Norman Kennedy

University of Alabama--Birmingham

Nikala Lane

Warwick University

Felicia G. Lassk

Northeastern University

Mark P. Leach

Loyola Marymount University

Joel Le Bon

ESSEC

Sandra S. Liu

Purdue University

Terry W. Loe

Kennesaw State University

Gerrard Macintosh

North Dakota State University

Alma Mintu-Wimsatt

Texas A&M University--Commerce

Jesse N. Moore

Clemson University

William H. Murphy

University of Wisconsin--Madison

Kristy Ellis Reynolds

University of Alabama

Gregory A. Rich

Bowling Green State University

Rick E. Ridnour

Northern Illinois University

Alberto Rubio-Sanchez

Purdue University--ITESM

Stacey Schetzsle

Purdue University

Mary Shoemaker

Widener University

ABSTRACTS SECTION TOPIC AREAS

The purpose of this section is to help readers keep abreast of current personal selling and sales management literature. We review more than 60 different academic and trade publications containing contemporary sales-related articles.

Abstracts are classified according to their appropriate topic areas. The surname (in brackets) at the conclusion of each abstract identifies the staff member who prepared the summary. The topic areas used to categorize abstracts are:

* Buyer/Customer Behavior--Perceptions--Negotiations--Decision Making

* Buyer--Seller Relationships--Purchasing--Supplier Issues--Alliances--Partnerships

* Compensation--Incentives--Sales Contests

* Customer Relationship Management

* Diversity Issues--Image

* Ethics--Legal--Environmental--Social

* General Selling and Sales Management Topics

* Global Selling and Sales Management--Cross-Cultural Issues--National Character

* Hiring Practices--Recruiting--Assessment--Selection

* Job Performance--Productivity--Effectiveness--Effort--Failure

* Leaders in Selling and Sales Management

* Marketing--Sales Interface--Cross-Functional Interface

* Methodology--Measurement

* Motivation--Job Involvement--Satisfaction

* National/Major/Key Account Management

* Organizational Climate--Culture

* Organizational Commitment--Work Commitment

* Performance Evaluation

* Personal Traits/Characteristics

* Role Stress--Physical Stress--Coping--Anxiety

* Sales Careers--Stages--Paths

* Sales Education Issues--Student and Academic Perspectives

* Sales Force Control

* Sales Management Functions--Analysis--Planning-Strategy--Implementation--Decision-Making Quotas

* Sales Organization--Structure--Channels

* Sales Technology Applications--Information Systems--Automation--Database

* Selling and Sales Management in Action

* Selling Process--Stages--Activities--Adaptive Selling--Team Selling

* Specialized Channels--Trade Shows-Telemarketing--E-Commerce

* Supervision--Leadership--Leader Behaviors-Leader/Subordinate Relationships

* Time and Territory Management--Allocation--Optimization Models--Customer/Account Analysis--Forecasting

* Training--Development--Promotion

* Turnover--Propensity to Leave--Retention

Buyer/Customer Behavior--Perceptions-Negotiations--Decision Making

See also 12, 13, 24.

[1] Fennis, Bob M., Enny H.H.J. Das, and Ad T.H. Pruyn (2004), "'If You Can't Dazzle Them with Brilliance, Baffle Them with Nonsense': Extending the Impact of the Disrupt-Then-Reframe Technique of Social Influence," Journal of Consumer Psychology, 14 (3), 280-290. [Flaherty]

The disrupt-then-reframe (DTR) social influence tactic involves a subtle oddity in a typical scripted request (the disruption) followed by a persuasive phrase for the conclusion of the script (the reframing). Past research has demonstrated that DTR is more than 1.5 times as "powerful" in gaining compliance than requests that do not include a disruption. In three experiments, the authors test the generalizability of DTR as well as its implications for the persuasiveness of other influence techniques. A total of 113 people who were approached on the street corner of a market square participated in study one. Studies two and three involved student samples. In general, the results demonstrate that DTR lowers ability to process the sales message (i.e., fewer counterarguments are generated), and it enhances the impact of other persuasion tactics. Furthermore, results suggest that prior findings involving DTR may be generalizable to a commercial setting.

[2] Menon, Kalyani, and Laurette Dube (2004), "Service Provider Responses to Anxious and Angry Customers: Different Challenges, Different Payoffs," Journal of Retailing, 80 (3), 229-238. [Reynolds]

The authors examine how service providers respond to customer anxiety and anger. These two emotions are frequently experienced during service consumption. Yet they arise from different appraisals of the eliciting event. These appraisal differences were hypothesized to affect the occurrence of supportive provider responses and the value given to supportive responses by anxious versus angry customers. It was also hypothesized that the evaluation of provider response would mediate the relationship between the intensity of both anger and anxiety and satisfaction with the service encounter and that the power of this mediating effect would be stronger for anxiety than for anger. Data were collected via a survey in a Canadian air travel context. The study's findings indicate that service providers were less likely to give appropriate responses to angry customers. Anxious customers were more likely to receive assistance, reassurance, comfort, and other supportive responses. The authors offer implications of the results with regard to the development of adaptive response strategies to anxious and angry customers.

[3] Yama, Elliott (2004), "Buying Hardball, Playing Price," Business Horizons, 47 (5), 62-66. [DelVecchio]

Negotiations over price have tremendous effect on both the buyer's perception of value and the seller's profit. This discussion of pricing negotiations takes the salesperson's point of view by providing a discussion of the rationale behind various buyer tactics. The degree to which a buyer can and will recognize the value in the product offering distinguishes the use of various tactics. The crucial element in pricing discussions is the salesperson's ability to establish value and the salesperson's ability to effectively use negotiation tactics as well. A practical and classic example of persuasively communicating value and supporting this value proposition with assertive techniques is presented. This paper is reminiscent of many methods described in the "principled negotiations" approach of "getting to yes."

Buyer-Seller Relationships--Purchasing--Supplier Issues--Alliances--Partnerships

See also 16.

[4] Avery, Susan (2005), "Partnering for Success," Purchasing, 134 (January 13), 25-30. [Ridnour]

Avery profiles the firm Waste Management and their strategy for managing the total customer satisfaction (TCS) process. Waste Management, a leading provider of comprehensive waste and environmental services, uses the TCS process to select and manage suppliers. The process has helped Waste Management reduce its supplier base from 500,000 to 65,000. In addition, Waste Management now purchases 50 percent of its $5 billion annual spend through 105 suppliers, and 95 percent from 6,600 of those suppliers. Waste Management built the TCS process on the concept of ensuring that all products and services meet or exceed customer requirements, are backed by extraordinary service and support, exhibit flawless quality, and deliver precisely when needed, at a competitive price. Models are provided describing the TCS process at Waste Management.

[5] Bowman, Douglas, and Das Narayandas (2004), "Linking Customer Management Effort to Customer Profitability in Business Markets," Journal of Marketing Research, 41 (4), 433-447. [Murphy]

In this paper, service profit chain frameworks, popular in consumer markets, provide the basis for a framework that has been adapted to include a range of variables relevant to business markets. The authors posit an inputs-process-outputs service profit chain. They discuss how varying degrees of effort/resource commitment of decision makers in complex decision-making units determine supplier's satisfaction and outputs. Outputs include volume, share of business, and profitability. Further, the authors include a discussion and analysis of the varying effects of competitive situations on outcomes. Relationship management is emphasized throughout the paper. The expectations and ensuing findings affirm the critical role of sales personnel in gaining desired outcomes for suppliers. The model, study, and analysis provide support for the value of effort, tenure, and knowledgeable personnel on customer satisfaction and other outcomes. Moreover, product line, responsiveness to customer needs, and superior delivery all have positive impacts, with most affecting profitability through their effects on satisfaction with vendor. The implications of customer size and competition are each addressed in meaningful ways, creating a rich discussion that helps suppliers understand when particular practices will, and will not, lead to higher margins.

[6] Hannon, David (2005), "Face Time: Procurement is Making a Bigger Impression on Corporate Executives," Purchasing, 134 (March 3), 30-34. [Ridnour]

There are more chief procurement officers and vice presidents of supply chains now than ever before. According to John Blasovich, an A.T. Kearney vice president and leader of a recent study on the importance of purchasing and the supply chain in the corporation, "Procurement continues to shed its back-office reputation, with 60 percent of companies now using their procurement expertise to help set, rather than just execute, corporate strategy." However, there is often a discrepancy between what board members and CEOs track and what procurement and supply-chain executives monitor. For example, metrics that board members watch include profits, market share, sales, stock price, and customers. But the vice president of a supply chain is often watching supply levels, inventory, purchase price, supplier performance, and quality of parts. Ways to improve the value perception of supply-chain management are discussed.

[7] Harris, Lloyd C., and Mark M.H. Goode (2004), "The Four Levels of Loyalty and the Pivotal Role of Trust: A Study of Online Service Dynamics," Journal of Retailing, 80 (2), 139-158. [Reynolds]

Developing and maintaining loyalty is an ultimate objective for many retailers. However, little is known about the loyalty of online shoppers. Therefore, the authors develop and test a four-dimensional scale of loyalty in an online context that reflects Oliver's (1997) conceptualization of a sequential loyalty chain. Further, the authors build on existing research on loyalty, trust, satisfaction, value, and service quality to develop a research framework. This framework positions trust as a pivotal driver of loyalty. To test the proposed framework, data are collected and analyzed from two surveys of online customers. The first set consists of purchasers of books and the second focuses on online flight purchasing. The analysis suggests that the hypothesized cognitive-affective-conative-action loyalty sequence is statistically most likely out of all possible variations. Although some differences emerge in the two studies, the results largely support the hypothesized framework and position trust as central to service dynamics.

Compensation--Incentives--Sales Contests

See also 36, 38.

[8] Doff, Paul R., and Lisette F. Masur (2004), "The Tough Economy Prompts Companies to Shift Their Approach to Sales Compensation," Journal of Organizational Excellence, 23 (Spring), 35-41. [Shoemaker]

Sales compensation plans need to support business goals and sales strategies. The recent economic downtown has caused companies to reconsider their goals and strategies, and then redesign their sales compensation programs. This paper describes four cases of successful sales force compensation redesign. The compensation plan in case one supports new salespeople more effectively, reduces unrecoverable draw, and motivates salespeople to generate more profitable sales. In case two, the new plan rewards customer satisfaction and reduces internal sales conflict. Caps on windfalls are the focus of case three, while case four explains the use of nonmonetary incentives.

[9] Raghu, Santanam, Bharadwai Jayaraman, and Hejamadi Rao (2004), "Toward an Integration of Agent- and Activity-Centric Approaches in Organizational Process Modeling: Incorporating Incentive Mechanisms," Information Systems Research, 15 (December), 316-335. [Rubio-Sanchez]

An integrative approach to organizational modeling is presented in this paper. The authors include transactional aspects of agent-centric concerns with informational and decision aspects of a process. To test the newly developed model, an extensive computer simulation is utilized. The simulation focuses on incentive mechanisms in the sales process. Results show the importance of incentives when a specific selling process undergoes changes.

Diversity Issues--Image

See also 28.

[10] Jackson, Susan E., and Aparna Joshi (2004), "Diversity in Social Context: A Multi-Attribute, Multilevel Analysis, of Team Diversity and Sales Performance," Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25,675-702. [Flaherty]

Over the past two decades, management researchers have sought a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities that organizations face when managing diverse workforces. This study contributes to the growing literature on diversity by considering whether the effects of team diversity are influenced by the demographic characteristics of team managers or the demography of the larger business units. Data for the study were collected from a large U.S. company. In total, 365 sales teams representing 42 sales districts were included in the final sample. Results indicate that the social context of teams moderates the effects of team diversity on team performance. In particular, the authors found that the effects of gender diversity, ethnic diversity, and tenure diversity on team performance depended on the other types of diversity present in the team. The authors conclude that researchers may need to adopt a multidimensional, multilevel approach to fully understand the effects of workforce diversity on performance.

Ethics--Legal--Environmental--Social

See also 27.

[11] Barnett, Tim, and Sean Valentine (2004), "Issue Contingencies and Marketers' Recognition of Ethical Issues, Ethical Judgments and Behavioral Intentions," Journal of Business Research, 57 (April), 338-346. [Dwyer]

The ethical decision-making process begins when an individual recognizes an ethical dilemma, leading to a judgment and behavioral intention. This study builds on past research that has focused primarily on individual and situational factors that affect this process. It examines the influence that characteristics of the ethical issues have on ethical decision making. Based on a national sample of over 300 salespersons responding to sales scenarios, the results indicate that issue contingencies are related to salespersons' recognition of ethical issues, ethical judgments, and behavioral intentions.

[12] Inks, Scott, Ramon Avila, and Joe Chapman (2004), "A Comparison of Buyers' and Sellers' Perceptions of Ethical Behaviors Within the Buyer-Seller Dyad," Marketing Management Journal, 14 (1), 117-128. [Liu]

Salespeople develop and maintain relationships, gather market information, and generate revenue. They constantly face ethical dilemmas and temptations. The paper examines differences in perception of the impact of unethical behavior on relationships from the perspectives of both buyers and sellers. The results show that buyers were more ethically sensitive than their selling counterparts and tend to view the impact of unethical behavior more negatively. The authors provide readers with their research instruments and raise some important questions.

Global Selling and Sales Management--Cross-Cultural Issues--National Character

See also 36, 39, 47, 53.

[13] Chaisrakeo, Sunanta, and Mark Speece (2004), "Culture, Intercultural Communication Competence, and Sales Negotiation: A Qualitative Research Approach," Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, 19 (4), 267-282. [Lassk]

The authors suggest a series of propositions to be analyzed in a global sales context. To better understand these relationships, in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 Thai and 11 Western salesmen representing high-context and low-context cultures, respectively. Most of the salesmen, regardless of culture, utilized a problem-solving negotiation approach. The respondents indicated that intercultural communication competence (ICC) was even more important than culture in global buyer-seller relationships. Results indicate that ICC provides a direct effect on the salesperson's negotiating style as well as a moderating effect between national/organizational culture and negotiating style.

[14] Jantan, M. Asri, Earl D. Honeycutt, Shawn T. Thelen, and Ashraf M. Attia (2004), "Managerial Perceptions of Sales Training and Performance," Industrial Marketing Management, 33, 667-673. [Leach]

This paper empirically examines differences in sales training efficacy perceptions between sales managers in multinational corporations and sales managers in national firms within Malaysia. Findings from a sample of 46 multinational firms and 59 national firms provide evidence that multinational managers perceive initial sales training to be more efficacious at generating salesperson performance than national managers in the following areas: knowledge of company information and policies, knowledge of sales presentation and communication skills, knowledge of sales objectives, knowledge of product information and technical skills, and knowledge of customer relations skills. Because multinational sales managers also reported providing a significantly longer and more sophisticated level of initial sales training, it is argued that the findings may be a result of the implementation of more effective sales training programs by multinational firms compared to Malay firms. Implications are discussed.

[15] Lim, Kai H., Kwok Leung, Choon Ling Sia, and Matthew K.O. Lee (2004), "Is eCommerce Boundary-Less? Effects of Individualism-Collectivism and Uncertainty Avoidance on Internet Shopping," Journal of International Business Studies, 35 (6), 545-559. [Mintu-Wimsatt]

This paper reports the relationships between two national cultural dimensions (individualism-collectivism and uncertainty avoidance) and cultural factors affecting Internet shopping adoption rates (national income and educational levels, and rates of economic growth, unemployment, and crime). The results showed a strong relationship between high income and Internet shopping. In addition, the study showed that individualistic countries with relatively low uncertainty avoidance levels tend to adopt Internet shopping more than collectivistic countries with relatively low uncertainty avoidance levels.

[16] Plank, Richard, David Reid, Richard Farmer, and Paul Dion (2004), "Organizational Buyers' Perceived Trust of Salespeople: A U.S. and South American Comparison," Marketing Management Journal, 14 (Spring), 82-89. [Rubio-Sanchez]

The authors set out to explore if trust has a significant impact on South American buyers' evaluation and choice of suppliers in organizational purchase decisions, as has been the case with American buyers. An American sample from the National Association of Purchasing Management, and a similar sample from two South American countries (Colombia and Chile) were used. The American sample returned 481 usable questionnaires, compared to 688 from South America. Using analysis of variance and logistic regression, it was found that the overall level of trust was much lower in the South American sample. Furthermore, the data suggest that the personal relationship between buyer and seller is more important for South American buyers than for their American counterparts. Limitations and future research directions are provided.

[17] Van Vianen, Annelies E.M., Irene E. De Pater, Amy L. Kristof-Brown, and Erin C. Johnson (2004), "Fitting in: Surface- and Deep-Level Cultural Differences and Expatriates' Adjustment," Academy of Management Journal, 47, 5 (October), 697-709. [Chapman]

The purpose of the study was to explore how surface-level and deep-level differences influence expatriates' adjustment to their host country. The results show that if expatriates are confronted with easily visible cultural differences, adaptation to their new living conditions will be difficult. In contrast, the authors found that adjustment to interacting with host country nationals and adjustment to working in a host culture were not predicted by surface-level differences, but rather by differences in deep-level values. The results also show that newcomers have less difficulty adapting if they see others endorse values such as helpfulness, protection, loyalty, equality, and social justice. Four multinational companies participated in the study, resulting in 208 subjects surveyed.

[18] Wilson, Kevin, and Dan Weilbaker (2004), "Global Account Management: A Literature Based Conceptual Model," Mid-American Journal of Business, 19 (Spring), 13-21. [Shoemaker]

An increase in companies seeking to "think globally" has stimulated academic research in global account management (GAM). This paper defines GAM and discusses some of the differences between GAM and key or national account management. An extensive conceptual model that pulls from both academic and practitioner literature is developed that incorporates the GAM program development steps, the GAM process, supplier/buyer issues, managerial roles, organizational issues, and outcomes. Research proposals build on the findings of several key academic studies are outlined.

Hiring Practices--Recruiting--Assessment--Selection

See 50.

Job Performance--Productivity--Effectiveness--Effort--Failure

See also 10, 32, 36, 37, 42, 43.

[19] Manchanda, Puneet, and Pradeep K. Chintagunta (2004), "Responsiveness of Physician Prescription Behavior to Sales Force Effort: An Individual Level Analysis," Marketing Letters, 15 (2-3), 129-145. [Kennedy]

This research examines the relationship between sales force effort and customer response within the context of pharmaceutical salespeople and physicians. By examining the number of sales/detailing calls, the number of free samples, and the subsequent numbers of prescriptions written, the findings indicate a positive relationship between detailing and prescriptions. With data covering a two-year time flame and using a hierarchical Bayesian count data model at the disaggregate level, diminishing returns were found with two-thirds of the physicians. Subsequent analysis shows that pharmaceutical companies could reallocate salespersons' calls at an optimal level for overdetailed physicians and increase the number of prescriptions written by 10 percent. These findings have implications for corporate marketers, salespeople, and physicians, as well as public policy makers and researchers.

[20] Walsh, Stephen M. (2005), "Call Reluctance: The Dark Side of Professional Selling?" Southern Business Review, 29 (2), 23-31. [Drollinger]

Call reluctance or an elevated level of apprehension in making sales calls is discussed in this paper. The author expands on Dudley and Goodson's (1999) original work on call reluctance and offers behavioral and psychological strategies for dealing with it. The author notes that it is important to recognize that most salespeople will experience call reluctance at some time in their career and it can potentially undermine their performance. Thought realignment, negative thought zapping, and assertion training are some of the suggested methods for overcoming call reluctance.

Marketing-Sales Interface--Cross-Functional Interface

[21] Kahn, Kenneth, Richard C. Reizenstein, and Joseph O. Renz (2004), "Sales-Distribution Interfunctional Climate and Relationship Effectiveness," Journal of Business Research, 57, 1085-1091. [Dwyer]

The sales-distribution relationship is a key interfunctional relationship, with the sales function focusing on customer sales and marketing and the distribution function focusing on outbound logistics. This study examines how interfunctional climate, composed of communication ease and cooperation, affects this relationship. Further, it does so by investigating whether management and subordinate perspectives impact the sales--distribution relationship. Results from a company's 865 sales and distribution personnel indicate that cooperation and, to a lesser extent, communication ease, are important elements of this relationship's effectiveness. Differences at both functional and hierarchical levels were also observed.

Methodology--Measurement

[22] Aziz, Abdul (2004), "Machiavellianism Scores and Self-Rated Performance of Automobile Salespersons," Psychological Reports, 94 (2), 464-466. [Kennedy]

This very brief article reports empirical findings of a two-sample study using two measures of Machiavellianism--the popular Mach IV and newer Mach-B. Consistent with previous research, this study found positive correlations between Machiavellianism and self-report performance. Also consistent with other investigations, the Mach IV exhibited a low Cronbach's alpha (0.38), raising questions about the use of this measure. The Mach-B measure had only an alpha of 0.66. While there is a theoretical argument for the relationship between Machiavellianism and sales performance, this study highlights the need for psychometrically sound measures and further research.

[23] Hansen, Kare (2003), "Measuring Performance at Trade Shows: Scale Development and Validation," Journal of Business Research, 57 (January), 1-13. [Dwyer]

Participation in trade shows has become an increasingly important marketing activity for many firms. However, extant measures of trade show performance do not fully capture key dimensions of this construct. Using the outcome- and behavior-based control system literature, this paper presents the development of a broader, more comprehensive 16item scale that assesses exhibitors' perceptions of their trade show performance. This broadened approach positions trade show performance more firmly in the nomological network of sales force performance research. Managerial, as well as theoretical, implications of this scale are provided.

[24] Reid, David A., Ellen Bolman Pullins, Richard E. Plank, and Richard E. Buehrer (2004), "Measuring Buyer's Perceptions of Conflict in Business-to-Business Sales Interactions," Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, 19 (4), 236-249. [Lassk]

While a majority of sales research investigates role conflict, these authors introduce Perceived Sales Interaction Conflict (PSIC). PSIC is defined as "the perception of conflict generated during sales interactions between a salesperson and a buyer" (p. 238). A six-item scale was developed using a sample of 481 Institute of Supply Management members. The measure consists of two subscales: relationship conflict and task conflict. The two-factor construct was empirically supported. Convergent and discriminant validity were assessed; PSIC was found to be negatively related to trust, customer orientation, empathy, and sales call outcome. Managerial implications are suggested.

Motivation--Job Involvement--Satisfaction

See also 31.

[25] Harris, Eric G., John C. Mowen, and Tom J. Brown (2005), "Re-Examining Salesperson Goal Orientations: Personality Influencers, Customer Orientation, and Work Satisfaction," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 33 (1), 19-35. [Deeter-Schmelz]

Addressing a gap in the literature regarding salesperson learning motivation, the authors develop and test a model of salesperson goal orientation. Drawing from the literature on control theory and achievement goal theory, the authors proposed that conscientiousness, need for learning, competitiveness, materialism, and openness to experience would affect both learning goal orientation and performance goal orientation; in turn, learning and performance goal orientations were hypothesized as influencing customer orientation and selling orientation. Learning goal and performance goal orientations, as well as customer and selling orientations, were expected to influence work satisfaction. Finally, tenure was expected to moderate the relationship between competitiveness and performance orientation. Data collected from 190 real estate associates were used to test the model. LISREL results revealed acceptable model fit, with 11 of 19 hypotheses supported.

[26] Marshall, Greg W., Felicia G. Lassk, and William C. Moncrief (2004), "Salesperson Job Involvement: Do Demographic, Job Situational, and Market Variables Matter?" Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, 19 (5), 337-343. [Drollinger]

Salesperson job involvement is investigated with regard to demographic characteristics, job situation variables, and market characteristics. The authors used two scales to measure job involvement of industrial salespersons. Findings indicate that older salespeople and those with more years of experience have higher levels of job involvement. Further, the higher the number of weekly sales calls, the greater the level of job involvement. Finally, those salespeople who perceive that their territories have higher market potential, more intense competition, and higher levels of customer satisfaction also have greater levels of job involvement. Interestingly, the authors did not find a relationship between job involvement and performance measures.

[27] Murphy, William H. (2004), "In Pursuit of Short-Term Goals: Anticipating the Unintended Consequences of Using Special Incentives to Motivate the Sales Force," Journal of Business Research, 57, 1265-1275. [Dwyer]

Problematic behaviors by salespeople often occur under conditions of high motivation to attain short-term target sales goals. The construct of salesperson problematic behaviors encompasses unethical behaviors but recognizes a broader range of behaviors that may adversely affect a firm as well. Over 800 salespeople from a wide range of industries were sampled to examine this construct. The results indicate that although company codes of conduct have the potential to reduce highly problematic behaviors, they may exert little influence on moderate to lesser problematic behaviors. Other key constructs, including affective organizational commitment, need for achievement, and relationship to the supervisor were examined with regard to the problematic behaviors construct. Implications and areas of concern for sales managers are discussed.

National/Major/Key Account Management

See 18.

Organizational Climate--Culture

See 34.

Organizational Commitment--Work Commitment

See 30.

Personal Traits/Characteristics

See also 22, 25, 27, 42, 57.

[28] Anderson, Nell, and Sarah Sleep (2004), "An Evaluation of Gender Differences on the Team Role Self-Perception Inventory," Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 25 (6), 429-437. [Lassk]

The authors address psychometric and validity criticism of Belbin's (1981; 1993) Team Role Self-Perception Inventory (BTRSPI) using a sample of 390 sales and customer service employees. This sample consists of 63 percent women and 37 percent men. Gender differences were found by role with men rated higher on the shaper, plant, and monitor-evaluator roles and women rated higher on the team worker role. Results indicate a gender bias in team leadership selection using the BTRSPI. That is, with this sample, if one uses only the BTRSPI criteria, men were five times more likely to be selected for a leadership role than women. Recommendations for using the BTRSPI in the selection process are provided.

[29] Harris, Eric G., and James M. Lee (2004), "Illustrating a Hierarchical Approach for Selecting Personality Traits in Personnel Decisions: An Application of the 3M Model," Journal of Business and Psychology, 19 (1), 53-67. [Del Vecchio]

Personality traits can be described in very general terms or in terms specific to a particular behavior (or task). The study considered ten personality traits ranging from general to specific. A hierarchical regression was used to explain sales performance of real estate agents. Analyses with more variables explained significantly more variance. Traits described as general (e.g., agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion) were not statistically significant. Significant predictors of sales performance included job resourcefulness, working hard, and working smart. Sales managers are advised to pursue these measures over more abstract indicators.

[30] Rozell, Elizabeth J., Charles E. Pettijohn, and R. Stephen Parker (2004), "Customer-Oriented Selling: Exploring the Roles of Emotional Intelligence and Organizational Commitment," Psychology and Marketing, 21 (6), 405-424. [Shoemaker]

A strong literature review discusses the value of customer orientation in salespeople, relates traditional sales behaviors to emotional intelligence behaviors, and outlines the research on organizational commitment. Relationships between customer orientation and the variables emotional intelligence, performance, and organizational commitment are hypothesized. Results from a survey of medical devices salespeople show a significant correlation between customer orientation and emotional intelligence and between customer orientation and performance, but no significant correlation between customer orientation and organizational commitment.

Role Stress--Physical Stress--Coping--Anxiety

[31] Barsky, Adam, Carl J. Thoresen, Christopher R. Warren, and Seth A. Kaplan (2004), "Modeling Negative Affectivity and Job Stress: A Contingency-Based Approach," Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25 (December), 915-936. [Flaherty]

The authors investigate the effects of negative affectivity and role stress on important salesperson outcomes, including job satisfaction, life satisfaction, turnover intentions, and depression. Taking a contingency-based perspective, they propose that the role of negative affectivity will depend on the specific strain construct measured. Data were collected from two sources (salespeople and managers). The sales sample consisted of 440 pharmaceutical salespeople (response rate of 74.6 percent) employed by two large corporations. The managerial sample consisted of 639 supervisors/managers who were asked to complete a self-report (response rate of 35.5 percent) and an informant report survey (response rate of 32.3 percent). Findings indicate that negative affectivity is directly related to job and life satisfaction, and indirectly related to turnover intentions. When controlling for negative affectivity, depression is not related to work role stressors.

[32] Bhuian, Shahid N., Bulent Menguc, and Rene Borsboom (2005), "Stressors and Job Outcomes in Sales: A Triphasic Model Versus a Linear-Quadratic-Interactive Model," Journal of Business Research, 58 (February), 141-150. [Dwyer]

Past studies have examined the linear effects and, to a lesser extent, the quadratic effects of job stressors and outcomes. In this exploratory study, triphasic effects--a sinuous curve that plots above and below the horizontal mean--are examined as a means of modeling stressor influence on key sales outcomes. Stressors investigated in this study were role conflict/ambiguity, job stress, and work-family conflict; outcomes were job and life satisfaction, performance, and turnover intention. Results based on a sample of over 200 salespeople and their managers suggest that the triphasic approach models some of the relationships more effectively than the linear or quadratic models, though not all of them. Future research and implications involving managing cyclic patterns of sales outcomes are discussed.

[33] Perrewe, Pamela L., Kelly L. Zellars, Gerald R. Ferris, Ana Maria Rossi, Charles J. Kacmar, and David A. Ralston (2004), "Neutralizing Job Stressors: Political Skill as an Antidote to the Dysfunctional Consequences of Role Conflict," Academy of Management Journal, 47, 1 (February), 141-152. [Chapman]

The authors studied the effect of political skill on perceived role conflict and strain, where political skill is defined as the ability to understand others at work and to use such knowledge to influence others to act in ways that enhance one's personal and/or organizational objectives. Subjects were 230 full-time employees from three large oil companies in Brazil over a 15-month period. The results showed that subjects with greater political skill reduced the negative effects of role conflict on all measures of strain--that is, psychological anxiety, somatic complaints, and physiological strain (heart rate and both systolic and diastolic blood pressure).

Sales Careers--Stages--Paths

[34] Donovan, D. Todd, Xiang Fang, Neeli Bendapudi, and Surendra N. Singh (2004), "Applying Interactional Psychology to Sales Force Management: A Socialization Illustration," Qualitative Market Research, 7 (2), 139-152. [Drollinger]

In this paper, the authors employ an interactionist perspective to explore sales force socialization. An interactionist perspective maintains that both the persons and the environment should be considered when predicting attitudes and behaviors. An in-depth review of person-environment research is presented and then related to sales force socialization. The authors suggest that an interactionist perspective may be a valuable means of examining other dimensions of sales research such as turnover, commitment, and leadership.

Sales Education Issues--Student and Academic Perspectives

See also 57.

[35] Leisen, Birgit, Michael J. Tippins, and Bryan Lilly (2004), "A Broadened Sales Curriculum: Exploratory Evidence," Journal of Marketing Education, 26 (3), 197-207. [Schetzsle]

This paper reports exploratory research focusing on the development of sales curriculum in education. The suggested marketing education curriculum addresses the views of practitioners on the topics most applicable to the sales field. Two investigations are presented. The first study examines curriculum developed by 101 marketing programs at AACSB-accredited schools. Qualitative research methods were used to analyze the curriculum based on the views of 22 business executives. The second study collected data from 40 practitioners in an MBA program to determine the marketing topics most useful in an expanded sales education. Results suggest that practitioners perceive a need for a stronger focus on sales education within the marketing curriculum.

Sales Force Control

See also 43.

[36] Piercy, Nigel E, George S. Low, and David W. Cravens (2004), "Consequences of Sales Management's Behavior- and Compensation-Based Control Strategies in Developing Countries," Journal of International Marketing, 12 (3), 30-57. [Flaherty]

Sales management control is often conceptualized as a continuum with two extremes (i.e., outcome- and behavior-based control). When adopting this unidimensional approach, researchers typically view compensation as a component of behavior-based control. In this study, the authors argue that compensation control operates independently from behavior-based control, and thus should be considered separately. They examine the effects of behavior and compensation control on salesperson and sales unit performance measures. Data were collected from sales managers from three developing countries (i.e., Greece, India, and Malaysia). Results suggest that compensation control has an impact on effectiveness, and that compensation control interacts with behavior control to affect outcome performance. Contrary to expectations, however, the interaction effect does not suggest that both high levels of incentive compensation and behavior control have a negative impact on salesperson and sales unit performance.

Sales Organization--Structure--Channels

[37] Misra, Sanjog, Edieal J. Pinker, and Robert A. Shumsky (2004), "Sales Force Design with Experience-Based Learning," IIE Transactions, 36 (10), 941-952. [Del Vecchio]

Using data from a firm selling high-technology industrial products in a mature market, this study examines the impact of a salesperson's experience and tenure on sales force size and design. Because for many products, salespeople learn on the job and through experience, this study examined learning curve effects. When the sales force has a high level of learning (or is very experienced), the costs associated with adding more salespeople are offset by sales and profit gains. Similarly, higher levels of learning tend to make the sharing of leads (between salespeople selling a single product line and salespeople selling more product lines) more effective. Experienced salespeople who act as specialists (i.e., are responsible for few product lines), are better able to justify high prices to their respective buyers. A model of learning curve effects is proposed and tested. The results suggest techniques sales managers may use in pricing and promoting. Those suggestions include the use of an experienced, smaller, and more specialized sales staff when selling higher-priced products and the use of less-experienced generalists to sell lower-priced products.

[38] Ross, William T., Frederic Dalsace, and Erin Anderson (2005), "Should You Set Up Your Own Sales Force or Should You Outsource It? Pitfalls in the Standard Analysis," Business Horizons, 48 (1), 23-36. [Del Vecchio]

Typically, firms conduct a break-even analysis to determine the level of revenue at which the costs of using outside salespeople are equivalent to developing an in-house force. The authors question the assumptions--and the exclusions--underlying this typical analysis. Some of these assumptions include the use of a straight commission system for outside sales representatives versus straight salary for those in-house and the assumption that these payments in compensation have the same net present value. When these assumptions are changed to include more--and possibly more realistic--situations, the authors show the change in the resultant breakeven point. In addition to cost analyses, issues associated with customer coverage and customer relationships are discussed. When the assumptions are questioned and issues of both call coverage and customer relationships are brought to light, the resultant decision may favor outside sales representatives.

[39] Stanworth, John, Stewart Brodie, Thomas Wotruba, and David Purdy (2004), "Outsourcing Sales Forces via Self-Employment: The Case of Direct Selling in the UK," Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 11 (1), 50-59. [Liu]

Labor force survey data demonstrated a substantial growth in self-employment in the United Kingdom since the early to mid-1980s, and self-employment has taken various forms, such as "reluctant entrepreneurs," and "quasi-self-employed." In recent years, scholars in direct selling have engaged in a debate on the issue of industrial relations. Many in the United Kingdom operate as self-employed independent contractors working in the telecommunications and utilities sectors. The researchers conducted a survey of 22 member companies of the UK Direct Selling Association, with employment status ranging from conventional employment to quasi-employment. The costs and risks conventionally associated with direct employment were found to be borne by the independent contractor rather than by large companies.

Sales Technology Applications--Information Systems--Automation--Database

[40] Bristow, Dennis, Rajesh Gulati, Steve Mooney, and Wenyu Dou (2004), "The Impact of Internet Savvy and Innovativeness on Real State Agents' Internet Utilization and Sales Performance," Marketing Management Journal, 14 (1), 103-116. [Liu]

The real estate market is one of the faster growing arenas for online commerce. The researchers proposed interrelationships between the degree to which salespeople are Internet savvy, their innovativeness, and their Internet utilization, leading to sales performance (defined as sales effectiveness and efficiency). A survey was conducted of real estate sales agents. A total of 1,500 surveys were distributed, with 301 usable responses received, for a response rate of 20 percent. A model was fitted and the hypothesized paths were significant. The study supports the contention that utilizing the Internet for selling activities leads to enhanced perceived performance for the agents.

[41] Celuch, Kevin, Steven A. Taylor, and Stephen Goodwin (2004), "Understanding Insurance Salesperson Internet Information Management Intentions: A Test of Competing Models," Journal of Insurance Issues, 27 (1), 22-40. [Flaherty]

In an insurance sales setting, the authors examine salesperson motivation to use the Internet to help build both internal and external relationships. In doing so, they offer two models adapted from the Theory of Reasoned Action and the Theory of Planned Behavior. In the first model, intention to use the Internet to assist in building both external and internal marketing relationships is determined by the overall attitude toward using the Internet and the subjective norm for using the Internet. In the second model, intention to use the Internet to build relationships is determined by overall attitude toward using the Internet, the subjective norm, self-efficacy, and perceived control. Data were collected from 734 insurance agents of a medium-sized insurance/financial services firm. Based on results of model comparisons, the authors conclude that the Theory of Planned Behavior adaptation including self-efficacy and perceived control variables explained significantly more variance in Internet use intentions for both internal and external relationship building.

[42] Gulati, Rajesh, Dennis N. Bristow, and Wenyu Dou (2004), "The Impact of Personality Variables, Prior Experience, and Training on Sales Agents' Internet Utilization and Performance," Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing, 11 (1-2), 153-179. [Leach]

This study empirically examines the relationships between the extent that a salesperson utilizes the Internet for selling activities and his or her (1) locus of control, (2) learning orientation, (3) age, and (4) Internet-related training. Further, this study explores the relationship between Internet use and the perceived efficacy of this use on performance. Findings from respondents of a mail survey with a sample of 335 independent sales agents selected from a membership roster of a national manufacturer's agents association provided evidence for the following. Salesperson performance was perceived to be positively related to Internet utilization by salespeople. Internet utilization was positively related to a salesperson's level of learning orientation, level of internal locus of control, level of sales-related Internet training, and negatively related to salesperson's age. Implications for sales managers are discussed.

[43] Johnson, Devon S., and Sundar Bharadwaj (2005), "Digitization of Selling Activity and Sales Force Performance: An Empirical Investigation," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 33 (1), 3-18. [Deeter-Schmelz]

The authors develop and empirically test a model of digitization of selling activity--that is, the provision of information and transactional capabilities via a Web site. Two sales force outcomes are considered: salesperson effectiveness and job insecurity. Moderators investigated include human capital investment (e.g., training), outcome- and behavior-based control systems, customer-initiated change, and competitive imitation. Role ambiguity, salesperson participation in strategy, and industry sector were used as control variables. Data collected from 168 key informants of firms with both a sales force and a Web-based channel were used to test the model. The findings revealed that digitization of selling activity increased salesperson effectiveness and perceived job insecurity. Human capital investment reduced the adverse impact of digitization on perceptions of job insecurity but did not affect the relationship between digitization and salesperson effectiveness. The use of outcome-based controls increased salesperson effectiveness and job insecurity; behavior-based controls reduced salesperson effectiveness but did not affect job insecurity. Hypotheses regarding customer-initiated change were not supported. Finally, competitive imitation did not affect salesperson effectiveness but did affect perceptions of job insecurity adversely.

[44] Jones, David L. (2004), "Hospitality Industry Sales Force Automation: Organizational and Individual Levels of Adoption and the Implications on Performance, Productivity and Profitability," Journal of Hospitality & Leisure Marketing, 11 (2-3), 173-185. [Liu]

Sales force automation (SFA) in the hospitality industry has grown in recent years. Virtually all hotel salespeople have their own computer to assist their daily responsibilities. This research attempted to examine the adoption of SFA on both organizational and individual salesperson levels. A survey of hotel salespeople was conducted. Participants received the survey as an attachment to an e-mail sent from a senior executive at their own hotel. Responses could be sent back in three possible ways: e-mail, Web, or fax. Findings showed evidence of incompatibility between intraorganizational systems and international communication links. On the individual front, respondents used more of the conventional mode of communication--namely, e-mails and faxes. Only 15.7 percent of those who responded used Web survey.

[45] Larpsiri, Ravipa, and Mark Speece (2004), "Technology Integration: Perceptions of Sales Force Automation in Thailand's Life Assurance

Industry," Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 22 (4), 392-406. [Schetzsle]

This paper reports the results of a qualitative research investigation. It explores the perceptions of sales force automation among salespeople and among their customers. A semistructured, guided interview process was conducted, with a mostly dyadic sample. The sample consisted of ten salespeople from a top insurance firm in Thailand, and ten customers who bought insurance policies from those salespeople. Results suggest that customers want to integrate technology into the interpersonal relationship between the salesperson and the customer. However, customers prefer not to replace interpersonal interaction with technology-based self-service alone.

Selling Process--Stages--Activities--Adaptive Selling--Team Selling

See also 9, 10, 28.

[46] Del Vecchio, Susan, James Zemanek, Roger McIntyre, and Reid Claxton (2004), "Updating the Adaptive Selling Behaviors: Tactics to Keep and Tactics to Discard," Journal of Marketing Management, 20, 859-875. [Lassk]

The authors provide sales training suggestions, from the buyer's perspective, for the most appropriate sales techniques to be used in adaptive selling. The results suggest that the following are congruent with adaptive selling: direct, compensatory and indirect tactics of addressing objections, incremental incentives, and passive closes. Postpone, minimize, and pass up handing of objections, and emotional, feel-felt- found and standing room only closes are not effective tactics for adaptive selling. Interestingly, the authors found two covariates (gender and title) associated with "low" adaptive selling. That is, females and those higher in the organization are more likely to react adversely if they feel that they are being manipulated.

[47] Jaramillo, Fernando, and Greg W. Marshall (2004), "Critical Success Factors in the Personal Selling Process," International Journal of Bank Marketing, 22 (1), 9-25. [Kennedy]

This empirical study furthers our understanding of critical success factors (CSFs) for those involved in selling banking products. Expanding upon Dwyer, Hill, and Martin (2000), the respondents in the current study were 246 salespeople in two of the major banks in Ecuador. Using a Spanish translation of Dwyer, Hill, and Martin's (2000) measures, this research incorporated both self-report and supervisor-rated performance measures to establish top and bottom performing salespeople. Results indicate that top performing salespeople are more likely to prospect using public seminars and trade shows, to approach customers with a statement about themselves and the name of their referral, to use customer appropriate language, to clarify the benefits of the bank's products in presentations, and to employ follow-up services ensuring continued satisfaction. The Hispanic setting of this study helps us to better understand not only CSFs in selling but also contributes to our understanding of the growing Hispanic market and provides managerial guidance to banks seeking to compete for these customers.

[48] Moncrief, William C., and Greg W. Marshall (2005), "The Evolution of the Seven Steps of Selling," Industrial Marketing Management, 34 (January), 13-22. [Leach]

This paper reviews the traditional seven steps of selling, examines transformative factors that have led to changes in each step, and presents an evolved seven-step process. Transformative factors identified include technology, the expanding strategic role of selling within organizations, team-based approaches to selling, and increased buyer knowledge and sophistication. These factors continue to change the sales function, thereby requiring the evolution of the sales process. A largely nonsequential evolved selling process is presented with the following steps: customer retention and deletion, database and knowledge management, nurturing the relationship, marketing the product, problem solving, adding value, and customer relationship maintenance. It is argued that although the traditional seven steps reflected a selling orientation on the part of the firm, the evolved selling process reflects more of a customer orientation in that the focus is on relationship selling (i.e., securing, building, and maintaining long-term relationships with profitable customers).

[49] Wong, Y.H., T.K.P. Leung, Ricky Y.K. Chan, Chester K.M. To, and Stanley H.E So (2004), "Is Total Trust Possible? An Empirical Study in Relationship Selling," Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 16 (4), 107-131. [Reynolds]

Customers tend to be more loyal to sellers who can always be trusted to act in the customers' best interest over time. This research attempts to identify ways to develop a total trust relationship. The core antecedents behind this total trust relationship are reciprocal responsiveness, shared understanding, personal disclosure, customization, and cooperative concern. The authors examine how these antecedents affect satisfaction and trust en route to affecting loyalty. The authors empirically test and substantiate the roles of these antecedents in building loyalty in a Chinese insurance services context. A total trust framework incorporating services effectiveness and functional efficiency is proposed. Managerial implications and directions for future research are also given.

Specialized Channels--Trade Shows--Telemarketing--E-Commerce

See also 15, 23, 39, 62.

[50] Crittenden, Victoria L., and William F. Crittenden (2004), "Developing the Sales Force, Growing the Business: The Direct Selling Experience," Business Horizons, 47 (5), 39-44. [Del Vecchio]

Direct selling offers the opportunity for a highly personalized form of consumer marketing and, in many global markets, offers the promise of reaching an untapped market. Before this promise can be fulfilled, however, the sales force must be developed. To fully develop the direct sales force, according to interviews with executives, key personnel issues must be addressed. These key issues revolve around (1) moving from informal to formal profiles for recruiting and selecting salespeople, (2) broadening the scope of training from just initial product knowledge to a consistent selling skill development, and (3) increasing attention on enhancing the performance of both successful and unsuccessful salespeople. The authors offer recommendations on various methods that may be appropriate to the unique needs of a direct selling sales force.

Supervision--Leadership--Leader Behaviors--Leader/Subordinate Relationships

See also 28.

[51] Jones, Eli, Lawrence B. Chonko, and James A. Roberts (2004), "Sales Force Obsolescence: Perceptions from Sales and Marketing Executives of Individual, Organizational, and Environmental Factors," Industrial Marketing Management, 33 (July), 439-456. [Leach]

This paper examines the perceptions of 245 mid-level sales and marketing executives regarding the obsolescence of their sales forces. The authors develop a model to investigate both antecedents to, and consequences of, these obsolescence perceptions. Furthermore, they suggest that relationships in this model will differ in high- and low-tech industries. Findings suggest that in high-tech markets, executives with lower levels of education, and those in organizations characterized as being less market oriented, believed their sales force to have more obsolescence symptoms. Furthermore, executives perceiving their sales forces to have these symptoms also reported lower job satisfaction and lower levels of sales performance. In low-tech markets, executives from firms with lower market orientations were found to be more likely to perceive obsolescence symptoms than those in firms characterized as having higher levels of market orientation. In addition, obsolescence perceptions were related to older and more learning-oriented executives.

Time and Territory Management--Allocation--Optimization Models--Customer/Account Analysis--Forecasting

[52] Alhadeff, Tony (2004), "Engaging the Sales Organization for a Better Forecast," Journal of Business Forecasting Methods and Systems, 23 (1), 7-10. [Shoemaker]

Sales forecast accuracy can be improved by involving the sales force. This paper describes benefits and challenges to building that partnership. Ten ways to partner with field sales are identified. An example is "share analysis and results with field sales managers."

[53] Hui Shi, Linda, Shaoming Zou, and S. Tamer Cavusgil (2004), "A Conceptual Framework of Global Account Management Capabilities and Firm Performance," International Business Review, 13 (October), 539-553. [Rubio-Sanchez]

A framework for determining dyadic strategic performance and profits in global account management (GAM) is introduced. Based on previous research and exploratory interviews, the authors posit that three capabilities account for overall GAM performance: collaborative orientation, strategic fit, and GAM configuration. A conceptual model of GAM capabilities and performance is introduced along with four propositions. Future research ideas in the sales field are proposed.

[54] Lukes, Tim, and Jennifer Stanley (2004), "Bringing Science to Sales," Marketing Management, 13 (5), 36-41. [Schetzsle]

This paper discusses return on sales investment (ROSI) to optimize sales resources within an organization. ROSI helps organizations prioritize and assign sales resources against customers and products, focusing on such aspects as a salesperson's time. ROSI is intended to help practitioners identify specific performance improvements by more effectively valuing the trade-offs among programs allocating sales resources, which is applicable to a variety of sales fields and industries.

Training--Development--Promotion

See also 14, 37, 50.

[55] Corsini, Skip (2005), "The Great (Sales) Training Robbery," Training, 42 (2), 14. [Deeter-Schmelz]

This practitioner-oriented paper presents eight situations that can lead to a company being "robbed" by sales training programs that offer no value. These situations include failing to complete due diligence with your sales consultant prior to kickoff, believing all that is needed is the right information, lacking the ability to distinguish preparing from doing, hoping for a large-scale solution rather than planning for small successes, lacking effective communication between the organization and the sales consultant, expecting superior results from doing things the same way, defining success in terms of program delivery instead of measurable outcomes, and accepting a sales trainer's proposed solution without careful consideration.

[56] Cuthill, Annalize (2003), "Adapting Sales and Management Skills at Standard Life Healthcare," Training & Management Development Methods, 17 (2), 711-715. [Kennedy]

Controlling costs, offering employees flexibility, providing award-winning customer service, and exceeding sales goals are objectives any company would like to achieve. This article reports a case study from a company in the very competitive health-care insurance industry that has achieved these objectives through an analysis of their training programs. While the author is one of the consultants of the program implemented, and the article, at times, reads like an infomercial, this article highlights the importance of training and people's need to experiment when a company implements "tele-business" and retention programs.

[57] Manna, Dean R., and Man D. Smith (2004), "Exploring the Need for Emotional Intelligence and Awareness among Sales Representatives," Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 22 (1), 66-83. [Schetzsle]

This paper focuses on examining the need for emotional intelligence and awareness to be included into sales training. Emotional intelligence (e.g., personality, adaptability, presentation skills), experience, people skills, and technical skills were categorical variables examined in the study. A sample of 515 professional salespeople from insurance and financial firms completed questionnaires addressing sales training and experience. The findings suggest that emotional intelligence and awareness factors were very important to sales practitioners. In addition, findings identify many strengths and weaknesses in the relevance of college course work in sales curriculum and sales training.

[58] Training (2005), "CIGNA's Sales Training is a BLAST," 42 (1), 13. [Deeter-Schmelz]

This article briefly describes the process CIGNA went through to revitalize its sales force. With the help of a training and consulting firm, CIGNA created Business Leadership and Sales Training (BLAST) to develop new sales representatives. Both product and industry information are provided, in addition to information on selling skills. Company sales in the target mid-sized market increased 246 percent over a one-year time period.

Turnover--Propensity to Leave--Retention

See also 31.

[59] Aggarwal, Praveen, John Tanner, Jr., and Stephen Castleberry (2004), "Factors Affecting Propensity to Leave: A Study of Salespeople," Marketing Management Journal, 14 (1), 90-102. [Liu]

Companies continue to struggle with retaining good employees despite the economic downturn. The researchers proposed that salespeople's propensity to leave is influenced by the quality of their relationships with their managers, role ambiguity, reward/recognition received, and desire to work with coworkers. The data were collected from the sales force of a single Fortune 500 company. Surveys were sent to all salespeople in the company who had less than three years tenure with the firm. A total of 203 surveys were returned. "Reward and recognition" was the only significant influencer associated with propensity to leave for males, but was the only one that was not significant for females. Role ambiguity was significantly important only for those with less than one year of tenure. "Relationship with sales manager" was important only for those who had longer tenure.

[60] Boswell, Wendy R., and Julie B. Olson-Buchanan (2004), "Experiencing Mistreatment at Work: The Role of Grievance Filing, Nature of Mistreatment, and Employee Withdrawal," Academy of Management Journal, 47, 1 (February), 129-139. [Chapman]

The authors studied the relationships between feeling mistreated, grievance filing, the nature of the perceived mistreatment, and employee withdrawal. A total of 461 surveys were used for the data analysis. The data were collected from university employees. The results show that mistreatment was positively related to exit-related withdrawal. Employees who experienced personalized mistreatment showed higher work withdrawal than employees reporting either policy-related mistreatment or no mistreatment. The authors suggest that future research should focus on efforts to better understand the nature of experiencing mistreatment, of using or not using formal grievance systems, and of their psychological and behavioral consequences.

[61] Lee, Thomas W., Terrence R. Mitchell, Chris J. Sablynski, James E Burton, and Brooks C. Holtom (2004), "The Effects of Job Embeddedness on Organizational Citizenship, Job Performance, Volitional Absences, and Voluntary Turn-over," Academy of Management Journal, 47, 5 (October), 711-722. [Chapman]

This study extends the research on job embeddedness. Data were collected from 636 supervisors and subordinate pairs from a large international financial institution. The results show that off-the-job embeddedness predicted turnover and absences, whereas on-the-job embeddedness predicted organizational citizenship and job performance. It was also found that these two components of job embeddedness may be processes through which the decisions to perform and participate can be conceptually and empirically linked.

[62] Wotruba, Thomas R., Stewart Brodie, and John Stanworth (2005), "Differences in Turnover Predictors Between Multilevel and Single Level Direct Selling Organizations," International Review of Retail Distribution and Consumer Research, 15 (1), 91-110. [Drollinger]

Turnover is a unique phenomenon in direct selling because there is no formal quitting procedure. Direct salespersons work independently and their level of sales can vary considerably over time. It may be difficult for a company to determine whether or not a direct salesperson is inactive in their sales or if they are no longer selling. In order to explicate high turnover rates of direct salespersons, the authors examine salespersons' intentions to leave either a multilevel or single-level direct selling organization. Findings indicate that demographic variables are not good predictors of intention to leave a company. Lack of job satisfaction and low organizational commitment were both found to be significantly related to salespersons' intentions to leave a company.

Articles summarized in the Abstracts Section are not available from members of the editorial staff or from JPSSM. Any correspondence regarding the Abstracts Section should be sent to the Abstracts Section Editor.

Lucette B. Comer, Purdue University, Section Editor